In a press conference this evening, the president referred in stumbling fashion to the “English Embassy” in Iran instead of the British Embassy. One can only imagine the kind of howls of derision that would greet any presidential contender if that kind of basic error were made before, say, the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. You can watch the video above. In case the president is unaware, England forms part of Great Britain, which also includes Scotland and Wales, though not Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. There is no such thing as an “English”...

New research suggests the continuation of life on Earth depends on massive explosions on the other side of the galaxy. The explosions, gamma-ray bursts thought to occur when two stars collide, can release tons of high-energy gamma-ray radiation into space. Scientists believe they have already played a part in some the planet's extinctions. They say the blasts could be contributing to the depletion of the Earth's ozone layer. Brian Thomas, of Washburn University, in Topeka, Kansas, said: 'We find that a kind of gamma-ray burst — a short gamma-ray burst — is probably more significant than a longer gamma-ray burst....

But for most, a missile was too distant, too unlikely a threat to interrupt their daily lives. ``A better question is when's the next earthquake,'' Ernie De Matteis said as he flipped through a newspaper in San Francisco.